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Defence officials strongly oppose recommendations to cut IDF budget
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yohanan Locker yesterday issued his long-awaited government sponsored report into structural and budgetary changes to the IDF. The report recommended significant cuts and reforms, sparking stiff opposition from the defence establishment.
Officially heading the Committee to Evaluate the Defence Budget, Locker was instructed in 2014 to evaluate the size of the security budget in light of socio-economic needs by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following a decision by the Security Cabinet. Locker formerly served as Netanyahu’s Military Secretary. The committee, which included two additional major generals met 63 times.
Its recommendations, announced yesterday, include a fixed five-year defence budget of £10 billion annually. Although the figure would represent a current budgetary increase, over the coming five years it is much less than the defence establishment says it requires. Other key measures include a sharp cut in the length of mandatory military service and a reduction in the Defence Ministry pension plans. The Locker Committee also recommended greater budgetary transparency and coordination between the Defence Ministry, Finance Ministry, National Security Council and the Prime Minister’s Office.
However, Locker’s recommendations came in for immediate criticism from Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who commented, “The report is shallow, extremely unbalanced, and completely disconnected from reality surrounding and inside Israel.” He added that, “If implemented, the report will be a gamble with the security of Israelis.” Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot said, “I am aware of … the desire to receive security for less money … but there is no need to harm those who tied their lives to the security of the state.”
Earlier this week, Eizenkot released his own IDF reorganisation plan as an apparent alternative to Locker’s recommendations. It proposes cuts to the military’s reserve personnel and headquarters personnel while transferring some jobs to the civilian sector.
The disagreement over the defence budget comes against the backdrop of agreeing the overall state budget, which the government must approve next month, before presenting it to the Knesset.